Posted
by
Zonk
on Wednesday November 29, 2006 @04:39PM
from the lots-of-good-stuff dept.

Via Eurogamer (which offers a highlight reel of the article), a long piece at MTV Games where Stephen Totilo sits down for a chat with Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime. Unlike some other question-dodging executives, Reggie shares some interesting details. We have release dates (WarioWare in January, Mario Party in March, Mario Galaxy sometime after March), confirmation that they'll try to bring GoldenEye to the Virtual Console, a few details about the first online game for the Wii (Pokemon Battle Revolution), and word that there would be several Wii-related announcements in January. From the article: "For Fils-Aime, some of the projects he'd love to see happen in the U.S. can only be executed by his bosses in Japan. As a result, part of his job is to lobby for what he thinks American gamers want. 'The piece that I am more and more involved in is really looking longer-term and making sure the full range of games are being brought to the Americas. Making sure we have core gamer games like 'Metroid,' like 'Galaxy.' Making sure we have our types of market-extension games not only for Wii but for DS. Where's our analogous cooking game? Where's our analogous 'Brain Age 2' for DS?'"

Phantom Hourglass, DS. March or April, I think, but after all this delay I'd be entirely unsurprised if it was July.

I'm on a bit of a tight schedule with these things. I've been replaying Ocarina lately, and I've got a week in which to finish that, because something tells me I'm going to stop dead come the 8th of December. Then Twilight Princess commences at last. After that, I'll pick up a copy of Wind Waker and the bonus disc that had

Minish Cap is a whole lot of fun. Also provides insight as to where the green hat comes from. It'a a great GBA game. If you don't have a DS already, you should really get one. The DS Lite is a nice little device. Plus "New Super Mario Bros," "Mark Kart," "Brain Age," and "Trauma Center" are great games to pick up for it. Definitely worth while.

I would buy two wii motes if I could dual wield in said "jp samurai game". Picture: Player1 = left hand, Player2 = right hand. The Wii should be able do this. Yes, I know the nunchuck can offer this kind of thing but I'm talking about dpads and buttons on both hands. Would offer something a bit more (complexity).

I agree, having two player Samurai games in the US and Canadian markets would be a big seller. Red Steel was kind of a first try at this, but I think we both mean the kind of games we see that have G4 game reviews saying "Japan only" for the PS2 or xBox360 - these would sell like hotcakes in the US!

Not hard to do, just hire some locals to translate - even if the translation wasn't flawless (e.g. "I slice you like sushi, jumping boy on rock!") it would still be oh so fun!

I agree, saw a G4 review of the PS2 (3?) version of Devil May Cry and based on what I've seen (and many manga and anime related series), think that would work really well with the Wii controllers. Just think - Wiimote as both sword and gun, maybe with the nunchuk having the switch between the two and special moves using the buttons.

That B button on the Wiimote seems to be hard to remember when bowling. Hope it would work well when shooting.

Yeah, I wish they would do more stuff involving precision detection of sword motions (and other stuff involving 3D detection of absolute position). After all, it's quite clearly possible: once the Wiimote is pointed at the screen, it can use the sensor lights' apparent location, the tilt, and the time history of the 6 accelerations to figure out its absolute position when not pointed at the screen, at least until acceleration reading errors accumulate to the point where it has to be recalibrated by pointin

You've obviously never played Phoenix Wright. It's about gathering evidence and defending the innocent, not making general, baseless claims of piracy and bullying single parents into settling out of court for a couple K because there's a good chance that if it goes to court, they'll be a couple hundred thousand in debt after they sell their house.Slight distinction.

...is a goddamn KEYBOARD I can plug in! Everything I heard said you'd be able to plug in any old USB keyboard and it would work, but now I find out that I'm stuck 1-letter-at-a-time-point-&-clicking to get anything typed!

Just don't get too close to anyone else playing Smash Bros. on the Wii -- those Smash moves probably translate to some wild controller swings, and you don't wanna RL-Home Run Bat your buddy with a Wiimote... (ouch)

You sure about that? For years my friends have dominated me in Smash Bros. (both SSB and SSBM) because they got to play it a lot more than I did.
I usually hit them physically (all in good fun, they would do the same to me when I schooled them in Soul Calibur or Mortal Kombat). They would hit me back, and we'd get into a good ol' fist-fight (between friends, its not so bad as it sounds).
At least this way, I can make it look like an acc

He can't give a release date because the head developer on the project doesn't have one yet. Because of the nature of the game, it's entirely possible for them to go from being 50% complete to being 90% complete in as little as a month. Then it would have to be localized for other markets, although admittedly, Smash Bros. games do not require particularly intensive localization.

I got my Wii at Midnight Sunday 19th (thanks game crazy), and have been playing it off and on when I can since then, getting in at least an hour everyday. I bought Zelda and Trauma Center with it. I've put about 10 hours in to zelda (great game, worth the system, though the wolf mode annoys the crap out of me), about 5 in to wii sports (man, these are a killer on the arm), and 1 hour in to trauma center. I've put a fairly good amount of time in to the original Legend of Zelda on the virtual console (play this once a year, just to remember what good, non-pretty gaming can be).

Overall, the Wii comes through on most of what it promised (innovative game play, etc), though, I have to say, I'm very disappointed with the lack of online toys. The browser is not active, new games only appear once a week for the virtual console, and the weather/news pieces aren't working at all yet. I recently upgraded my xbox's Xbox Media Center, and the stuff I could do on there made me really feel bad about the wii's meager network offerings (yes, I know XBMC is third party, but it's also been around for a few years, and still does more). I think that Nintendo NEEDS to get some more pieces out online before the end of the year.

We got our Wii at midnight Saturday 19th as well (EBX), and playing it a lot too, including having friends over. Bought Zelda, Excite Truck, and Rayman's Raving Rabbids. Made about 8 Miis and used them to play on the (sadly) single controller/nunchuk. At Wii Sports, our goal is to get our age down, and have done a lot of team bowling, but have played tennis golf boxing (workout!) as well. Fun! Two of us have played Zelda, it takes a long time, and the jumping thing takes a bit to figure out the best wa

What a great idea for Apple. Write an iTunes extender for the Wii.Use the Wii to view the videos you buy on iTunes across your network. Probably not going to happen since Apple just came out with their iTv box.

Not a nintendo fanboy. In fact, I haven't bought a new nintendo system since the nes (hell, didn't buy a SNES until 01, and that was because I hated playing earthbound on a keyboard/mouse combo). There are several games like Zelda that I give a week or so of play once a year, because they are amazing games, and the prettiness of them doesn't matter. I never meant that pretty and fun are exclusive, just that in the past few years, too much emphasis is on pretty, and not enough on fun.

I love how Nintendo fan boys say that as if its a good thing. Me, I'll play my good, pretty games. That's right. Good and pretty aren't mutually exclusive.

Agreed. However it's simply a counter argument to the trolls that spout that if it isn't Teh HD!!! (1080p) it can't be a good game. Just because the Wii isn't doing HD doesn't mean it won't have 'pretty games'.

NEW YORK -- Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America president, is a man on a mission. His mission is to sell the red-hot Nintendo Wii and make sure people who have them love them.

"Are we feeling good about our success? Do we think we can have more success in the future? Absolutely," he said during a stuffed 40-minute interview with MTV News in a hotel just south of Central Park. "I do think that highlights a difference between us and our competitors: We're not arrogant. We don't view success as a right. We feel we need to earn success every day. And we're going to do that by being true to the gamer."

In the same hotel 51 weeks ago, Fils-Aime gave MTV News an early handle on the Nintendo Wii controller (see "First Look: Nintendo Revolution Controller Feels Smooth As Puppet Strings"). Now he's ready to talk about any Wii topic under the sun -- to a point.

"We're looking at this as about eight days into the mission," he said, opening with a report of the company's recent success. Nintendo has sold 600,000 Wiis in North America and nearly half as many extra Wii controllers, Fils-Aime said (see "Wii Unmasked: Nintendo Reveals Price, Launch Date, Lineup Of Games"). The company has also sold more than 450,000 copies of "The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess." He said "Red Steel," "Rayman Raving Rabbids" and "Madden" all have sold well, as has the surgery game "Trauma Center: Second Opinion."

He offered a preview of the Wii's winter lineup. In addition to support from third-party game developers, Nintendo will publish three more titles for the Wii by the end of March: "WarioWare: Smooth Moves," "Wii Play" and "Mario Party 8." The first two will be released in January, the latter in March. All are compilations of shorter games.

"WarioWare" is a continuation of a popular series that barrages players with seconds-long games. "Wii Play" contains nine brief games, including an homage to "Duck Hunt," and will come packed with an extra Wii controller (but not a nunchuck). Nintendo has shown contraptions that turn a Wii controller into a "Duck Hunt"-style gun or, in the company's terms, a "zapper." "Wii Play" would seem to fit the bill, but Fils-Aime said, "We want the right title" to introduce it with.

Word broke of that early-2007 Nintendo trio earlier this month. Some fans complained that there weren't any meaty adventures on the list and predicted a winter gaming famine similar to the one that followed the launch of Nintendo's last two consoles. "I disagree with the comparison," he said. "I wasn't here for the GameCube launch, but there was a time period when there were no titles. There wasn't even titles you could or could not sink your teeth into. 'Wii Play' and 'WarioWare' are going to be hugely fun titles."

And for people who want more of an adventure to sink their teeth into once March passes? "Of the next batch of Nintendo releases, 'Metroid' is going to be next on that list," he said. And "Super Mario Galaxy"? Fils-Aime said to expect it any time between the end of March and next Christmas.

He fielded every question, even if he couldn't always give a rosy answer. People want Wii controllers bundled with nunchucks? If people start buying them in a one-to-one ratio, Nintendo would consider offering a bundle. Is there a DVD-playing Wii coming to the U.S. any time soon? "The answer is no." Will third parties start using the Miis -- Wii player avatars -- in their games? Fils-Aime said developers outside Nintendo now have the ability to drop them into their games as well, but,"Is there anything I've seen? No." Does he think the Reggie Mii his colleagues at Nintendo made looks like him? "The one they made had more of a scowl than the one I made."

Fils-Aime hyped an upcoming baseball game from 2K Sports as a perfect title for the Wii controller and said that "Godfather" Wii from EA is "very interesting." And he leapt to the defense of the weakly reviewed but strong-selling Ubisoft Wii game "Red Steel." "I think a lot of the reviews have been overly cr

Fils-Aime said the company is still planning to release about 30 titles by the end of the calendar year. That's about 20 fewer than Nintendo is releasing in Japan, which Fils-Aime said is because some games "may make perfect sense in Japan but we don't think in our marketplace have a lot of potential."

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm... As much as I love My Wii, and Reggie as a spokesman, I simply don't accept that CONTRA (III), SUPER MARIO WORLD, and Donkey Kong Country don't have a lot of potential in the USA.... Super

Continue reading. The next paragraph:"[UPDATE: Readers have noted that some games slated for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan and not for the U.S. by year's end include surefire American favorites like "Super Mario World." On Tuesday, Fils-Aime addressed that point: "I do think here in the Americas we want to be a bit more strategic in how we use the titles... If there's a month where we don't have a fantastic lineup of Nintendo-packaged software, that's where I want to release a great SNES game or a grea

I think Nintendo doesn't fully understand the difference between Japanese and U.S. game markets, and more to the point doesn't understand how they've been coming closer together over the past few years especially now that the internet lets us all know what the other markets are getting well in advance.

Basically, the core of it is I don't understand why VC titles don't have the same availability. It should default to the region of the system, but If I want to buy a Japanese game that has no english text, and no english manual, LET ME! Throw up a warning or something, but let me do it. I hate the fact that some games never make it to the US or Europe for no good reason. The VC titles should lower the costs/ risk to doing this, so why don't they?

I hate the fact that some games never make it to the US or Europe for no good reason. The VC titles should lower the costs/ risk to doing this, so why don't they?

Because Nintendo (and the other game makers, but we're focusing on Nintendo) still thinks they need to treat the Nippon and U.S.A. markets as though they were completely different entitities. I have no idea why. It seems especially silly to me when we can just go on the internet, see what the other markets are getting, and if there is something

I agree that the VC should be used to attempt more ports as a method of testing just how different the Japanese and American markets are. What I'm not sure about is how much of the American market is like the Japanese market, and how much of it is a group of very vocal fanboys online. I always see people clamoring for more Japanese imports and such, but its always in the same places where the hardcore gamers congregate. I'm not saying that there wouldn't be a large demand for more Japanese ports, or that

I'm not saying that there wouldn't be a large demand for more Japanese ports, or that said Japanese ports wouldn't be accepted by even the mainstream (surprisingly, to some), but simply that because there are several posts requesting specific games (Mother 3, for example, in this very thread), that doesn't mean there is a large enough market to justify the attempt...

Ok, Let's take 'Mother 3' as an example. I understand it's very TEXT intensive and would take a team of people to do localization in Englis

I understand the economic concepts behind this; I just don't know the specific numbers. But lets play with what you've provided. Lets be generous and say that localization only costs $50,000, and the game is sold for $10 on the VC. That means that Nintendo needs 5,000 Mother 3 fans to make the game profitable, or a mere.125% of Wii owners (assuming 4 million consoles sold by year's end). I have a feeling that the costs are target number are even less. But even so, how do we know that there are that ma

Lets be generous and say that localization only costs $50,000, and the game is sold for $10 on the VC. That means that Nintendo needs 5,000 Mother 3 fans to make the game profitable, or a mere.125% of Wii owners (assuming 4 million consoles sold by year's end).

Correct, it would need 5,000 Mother 3 fans worldwide, over time to break even. Considering though that there are very small costs associated with keeping it on the VC channel, packaging, and distributing it (they won't get stuck with a warehouse

I agree that the VC should be used to attempt more ports as a method of testing just how different the Japanese and American markets are. What I'm not sure about is how much of the American market is like the Japanese market, and how much of it is a group of very vocal fanboys online.

There are certainly still some differences in the kinds of games that U.S. and Japanese gamers like. However, I think this gap is shrinking, and I think the Nintendo execs are mistaken about a number of games.

Why? because Americans historically have loud rampaging Sissy fits when they do something wrong and demand the company fix it. Ask any customer service rep.Other cultures are more content to accept their mistakes.. "oops I inserted a sandwich in the VCR, I am so stupid..." America: "OMG! I demand a new VCR because it is too easy to insert a sandwich in there! DEFECTIVE! YOUR FAULT!! ARRGH!"

They are avoiding the incredibly inane general public and the stupidity that follows because of our culture of "pr

Nintendo never understood some newer aspects of gaming, possibly a sign that people like Myiamoto have reached a certain age. While they still are gifted designers, they have been the last to use the internet, they also only have seen over the nintendo DS which they thankfully made region free, that there is a huge market outside of japan for games which are not so mainstream and outright weird.
I dont think that the japanese and western gaming tastes are too different, it is more the style or the present

Even Mario World has elements of exploration and puzzle solving, but I would agree that calling it an adventure game is a stretch. However, Metroid games have *always* been adventure games, they've just been presented in whatever medium has been most popular at the time (side-scroller/1st person).

By that definition 99% of the games are adventure games, but Metroid definitely is not.
The overhelming element is shooting enemies, a few puzzles in between do not make a game an adventure game.
Sorry...
The closest you can get is action adventure, bug given metroids puzzle densitiv I would not even say that.
Anyway, I think the wii would be the perfect console for a System shock remake;-)

And real guns aren't weightless things that fire with perfect aim at a crosshair superimposed on your field of vision while you're running a dead sprint. Watching people argue their manhood based on whether they play console or PC shooters is one of the more entertaining 'tard-fights you can find on the net.

Firstly, a more reasonable online arrangement. Starting with the Virtual Console. I'm sure people are purchasing these games, but their prices could be a bit more fair. And while we're on the VC talk, why not some simple upgrades? Hell, that would be something worth paying for. If I could play some people over the net in Goldeneye, I'd open my wallet immediately. I'd pay a shitload for a MarioKart 64 online remake. For the rest of their online (or lack thereof) initiative, I was sorely disappointed t

Secondly, acknowledge the importance of 3rd parties. Nintendo may be able to survive with their 1st party games, but I believe they can flourish with adequate support from other developers.

Is this currently a problem? from what I understand, the development kits are much, much less expensive than those for the PS3 or the XBox360, and the development is made easier for programmers who have already done GameCube games, since the hardware is so similar. I've heard someone at Nintendo (Reggie? I can't re

Take-Two Interactive announced they are supporting the Wii (when they hadn't supported the GameCube) due to the lesser development costs. The president said it costs between 20%-50% what it costs to make an X-box 360 game, so they can broaden their portfolio with less risk.

Honestly I was amazed when they announced that for the 360 and not the Wii. I was like WTF? That would be perfect for the Wii! Hopefully GTA4 comes to the Wii (Though I don't like it, It would be good for the platform) but please, please, please give me Max Payne 3....

So I'm asking serioiusly... is there still a problem with 3rd party relations for Nintendo, or are things smoothed/smoothing over after the GameCube era?

I know that the response has been positive from many developers; however, that does not necessarily guarantee anything at this point. Also, your average gamer doesn't know company plans and direction. If they know anything, it usually comes from a more-informed gamer friend. I would work on getting a significant name or title that will draw the "matur

I definitely agree with you on the price of the virtual console games. I only downloaded one or two as a novelty right now, but I'm not going to pay 5.00 and up for nostalgia, especially when I can pick up the actual cartridges for less in many cases.

I agree the VC seems pricy. At 50% or less of the current price I'd buy them hand over fist, but as it is I will pick and choose, ultimately spending less money. As far as improvements, maybe, but I'd bet they lack the source to even many of the 1st party titles, and adding features like online play via an emulator without changing the original code and without completely borking the game is tough.But I'm quite certain that Nintendo is aware of the necessity of 3rd party support. In fact one of their exe

Most? the GC disks are 1.5 gig capacity. I'm not sure any would fit on the 512 included, but yeah it would be silly to try. I'm surprised they (Nintendo) all but completely abandoned GC support as you can target 2 markets now if you really wanted to with the same product, especially something like Donkey Konga or DDR...

Picture a Donkey Konga game for the GC, but you could download new songs (Royalty free ones like Classical, Swing, or Nintendo

I agree. Even though I'm pretty liberal with my purchases so far (I never owned a Turbo16, or Genesis back in the day) I find it pretty much reasonable. Circuit City had a deal the first week that all Wii accessories $19.99 or greater were $5 off each. This made the Wiimote $35, Nunchuck $15 and the 2000 Wii Points cards $15. So at a 25% discount I found these game were priced quite well. I hope in the future they offer bundles or bonuses for oth

Fils-Aime confirmed that Wiis connected to the Internet will automatically download surprise bonus material from Nintendo, but he wouldn't detail what kind of unexpected messages or channels might pop up. "I'd hate to ruin the surprise. Is there activity that we're working on for before the holidays? The answer is yes."

Interactive yule log for the holidays? Use the wiimote as a fireplace poker?

And goldeneye on the wii? It's good that we get a classic game, but what about new franchises? The games listed (wario, mario, metroid etc) are getting old. Do we need more rehashes? I would rather see some new ideas, not "Super mario 131". look how well animal crossing did.

And goldeneye on the wii? It's good that we get a classic game, but what about new franchises?

And if you think about it long enough, you'll realize that Goldeneye is based on a James Bond movie from over 10 years ago... They're not talking about a new Goldeneye game, but a Virtual Console [wikipedia.org] version of the original game (the Virtual Console on the Wii is an online service that allows you to purchase and download games for older Nintendo systems).

The reason why people care is because GoldenEye 007 [wikipedia.org] was one of the most popular games for the N64.

Hopefully this background information answers your questions... I'm not trying to provide too much information, you just didn't seem to understand what you were complaining about.

And Goldeneye 007 was what first brought the world of FPS to console gamers (read: those without a computer that would/could play Doom or did not have a net connection to play with friends on games like Quake.)
So it was a very important game for not only Nintendo, but for First Person Shooters, as well as the game industry as a whole. FPS wasn't really successful on consoles prior to Goldeneye 007.

And goldeneye on the wii? It's good that we get a classic game, but what about new franchises?

Goldeneye would be for the virtual console, and classic games is what the VC is all about.

New franchises are good, though. Never played Animal Crossing (doesn't seem like my style anyway), but I did enjoy Pikmin as a great new franchise for the GC. Will they come up with a new, fantastic game on the Wii? Maybe, and I'm sure that if someone there (in particular Miyamoto) gets a good idea Nintendo will go with it

Why do most Wii games look like gamecube games or worse?
Answer: Most of them are gamecube games?

Why are you fucking over third party developers for online support?
Answer: We're not. We don't want the servers to all crash as soon as everyone gets online, so we're bringing people online slowly, you know, like Microsoft did with Xbox Live the first time. We want to avoid the WoW situation where servers crash every five minutes, that's just not good customer service.

What the fuck is going on with the hardware/software problems with the Wii? Bricked consoles from flakey firmware updating. And huge numbers of Wiimote problems.
Answer: There are no software problems with the Wii. Nor are there any Wiimote problems. There were hardware problems with the first revision of Wii units produced. We are replacing those, but it is well within standard error for any piece of technological equipment, and in fact less than most.

What the hell is going on with third party support? Why are you letting developers dump half-assed gamecube era engines with some pointing or swing bolted on? Where are all these 'innovative' games you've been bragging about?
Answer: We have plenty of 3rd party support. We are letting developers dump half-assed gamecube era engines with some pointing or swinging bolted on because that's what 3rd party developers want to do. There are 1400 PS2 games in existence, 900 of them are totally worthless. We figure it worked for Sony, it can work for us. The entire goal is to make development as easy for 3rd parties as possible, so we can have 900 crappy games that people can point to, just like everybody else. Don't worry, we'll keep making the new and innovative games we've always made, but it takes us time. We're not special gaming fairies with magical pixie dust that sprouts a Mario game fully formed from the ether. We're just normal programmers and artist who give a shit about video games and are willing to take a few hits to our image to release a game that doesn't suck. Unlike THQ, but don't tell them I said that.

"10 New VC games did not come out Monday as promised. Only 3 (I think), 2 TurboGraphix16 titles and Ecco the Dolphin. Where the hell is my Pilotwings? SMB? Come on guys, you want me to buy NES games at $5 a pop you're going to have to give me decent choices and soon. Playing these games legally on my TV is at least 30% of the reason I bought the Wii, don't disappoint me."

This is completely wrong.

First they never said 10 new games a monday. They said new VC titles every monday, 30 games by the end of the year, and then 10 games a month starting in January.

Second. It was 1 turbographix16, 2 genisis games (Ecco and Golden axe).